House Republicans Boast About Bevy of Anti-Obamacare Votes

On the eve of President Obama's State of the Union address, a top House GOP leader has circulated a reminder to boast of how many times the chamber's Republicans held floor votes to repeal, defund, or dismantle the Affordable Care Act.

And the message sent out by Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy's office indicates there will be no let up on such legislative assaults on Obamacare this election year, as Republicans believe some Democrats are feeling political heat with such votes.

"It is expected that the president will use the State of the Union tomorrow night to make a strong defense of Obamacare," states the memo. "What the president probably won't mention is the astounding number of defections he and House Democratic leadership have faced in this Congress on Obamacare-related votes."

The memo underscores that "to date, the House of Representatives has voted 14 times in the 113th Congress and 35 times in the 112th Congress to repeal, defund, or dismantle the law." And on these votes, states the memo, "House Democrats joined with House Republicans a dozen times, supplying 256 votes against the president and their leadership team."

It goes on to state that the last three votes all occurred after the official Oct. 1 date when Americans could begin signing up for Obamacare plans.

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"Not coincidentally, the number of Democratic yes votes has increased significantly—39, 67, and 33 votes since October 1. An average of almost 47 votes," the memo states. "This upward trend is a reflection of an ever-increasing sense of queasiness among House Democrats with respect to Obamacare. Just something to keep in mind."

The memo then goes on to take a sort of pride of Republican ownership in what has already been done regarding Obamacare. It states that eight Obamacare provisions have been repealed or have had funding rescinded.

Meanwhile, House Democratic leaders also are warning that voters this fall won't forget all the attention that Republicans have continued to give to undoing Obamacare--but they say it is some Republicans who are getting election-year jitters over that.

"Those wrong priorities will come back to haunt them in November." declared Rep. Steve Israel, D-N.Y., chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, in an op-ed published by CNN on Monday.

"A few Republicans are making the first motions to run away from this unpopular approach and to deny their repeal-only agenda. They're hoping that voters will think that they've woken up and found some common sense--but voters won't forget nearly 50 votes, and they won't forgive them for turning their backs on hardworking people," Israel wrote.

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